Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The Geography of Love (Part 2A)

Thanks to Louise Midjord, I am in temporary possession of Annette Messager's Word for Word--a beautiful collection of the French visual artist's work. I spent the better part of this sommerferie afternoon poring over her words and art, and find myself quite enamored of her work. Messager says that for her, "words are images," a statement with which I (as a mildly hyperarticulate, word-loving ballerina child) can totally relate.

Much of her work revolves around love and relationships, a subject towards which I am ferociously naive but secretly (beneath my rock-solid layer of sarcasm) fascinated by. Summer in Scandinavia seems full of couples, and though I am not part of one, I do enjoy observing from afar. Messager's works have this raw, simple, beautifully honest and innocent atmosphere with which I think everyone can relate. And so, I transcribe two of my favorite passages here. It may be lengthy for a blog post, but there you have it :-)

My Map of the Country of Tendernessthe river of your tearsthe path of your shoulderthe forest of his eyebrowsthe landscape of your fingernailsthe cavern of your earthe monsoon of your tonguethe teeth of my shamethe mount of your liesthe eyelids of prudencethe navel of solitudethe bush of hairsthe route of temptationsthe path of reconciliationthe forest of uncertaintiesthe lake of meditationthe tree of shamethe crossroads of ambitionthe river of chancethe landscape of rupturethe curve of unhappinessthe slope of doubtthe clearing of indiscretionthe pass of suspicionsthe stones of calumnythe pond of declinethe trail of indulgencethe woods of voluptuousness

The Men I Love, the Men I Don't LoveI love his graying side burns, I love his profileI don't love his big side burns, I don't love his bow tie

I love his appearance of a young, neat business executive I don't love his appearance of a young, too neat business executive, I don't like his hairstyle

I love his determined look, I like his seriousnessI don't love his serious and 40-year-old responsible man attitude

I love his relaxed and elegant style I don't love his shirt collar, I don't love his conceited style

I love his smile behind his raincoat collar I don't love what he is hiding behind his raincoat collar

I love his hard, clean lookI don't love his hard, clean look

I love his seductive air and his very dark eyesI don't love his seductive air; I don't love his lock of hair

I love his eyebrows, I love his rich air, I love his cigarI don't love his rich air, I don't love his moustache I don't love his cigar

I love his little lock of hair and his shiny hairI don't love his hair that reminds me of a wig, I don't love his part

I love his serious look, I love his eyeglasses, I love his pipeI don't love his eyeglasses, I don't love that he smokes a pipe

I love his loutish mannerI don't love his loutish side

I love his reassuring and chubby manner I don't love his nervy and self-satisfied manner

I love his piercing eyes and his furrowed brow I don't love his small, too piercing eyes

I like his good-natured mannerI don't love his clumsy, good-natured side

I love his calm and poised air, I love his house behind him I don't love his established, settled air, smoking a pipe in front of his house

I love his bon vivant artistic manner, I love his smile I don't love his vest, I don't love his smile

I love his smile, I love his oversized sweaterI don't love his smile, his too close-set eyes, I don't love his sweater

I don't love his very youthful and melancholic air, I would like to give him self-confidenceI don't love his overly-romantic air, or his fat lips

I love his eyes, I love his cigar I don't love his cigar, I don't love his nostrils

I love his slenderness, I love that he gallopsI don't love his horse-riding outfit, he does not fill it out

I love his very youthful look, I love his thick eyebrowsI don't love that he looks too young, I don't love that his eyebrows are too close together

I love his hard-working and serious look, I love his file-folders and his telephone, he is wearing a wedding bandI don't love his file-folders, I don't love his fat wedding band

I love his touchable hair, I love his glass of wineI don't love his hairstyle, I don't love his overly cute playboy attitude, I don't love his glass of wine